Katie’s Block Party

Alcoa junior swats school (and possibly state) record 14 shots

Lady Tornado center Katie Bean (35) waits to take the floor during player introductions in a game earlier this season. Photos by Wallace Bowden

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

Fourteen blocks.

That’s how many shots Alcoa junior Katie Bean sent back the other way during the Lady Tornadoes 52-37 win over Anderson County last week.

The talented Lady Tornado center didn’t stop with setting a new school and possibly state record for blocks, though. With 17 points and 11 rebounds in the game, Bean came away with as impressive a triple-double as you’re likely to see in girls high school basketball.

Bean jumps center with Maryville’s Lindsay Taylor.

The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association maintains records for single-season and career blocked shots. Upperman’s Karissa Dyer rejected a career-record 601 from 2006-10, doubling up with a single-season record 203 during the 2007-08 campaign. There’s no mention of a single-game mark.

The best records Blount Press Row could find for single-game blocked shots are maintained by the National Federation of State High School Associations, of which the TSSAA is a member.

Former Baylor great Brittney Griner set the national record with 25 in a high school game in 2008. The NFHS recognizes the top 18 performances in girls’ blocked shots nationally, the lowest mark listed at 19. None on the list are from Tennessee.

The TSSAA currently recognizes single-game records for blocked shots in girls basketball only if it took place in a state tournament contest. Hancock County’s Krista Harrison had a record nine in the 1994 tournament.

Could Bean now hold the state record for blocks?

We’re on it. Stay tuned.

Congratulations, Katie!